HEARING FEELINGS: WITH LOUV
Interviewed by Eloise Moran (she/her)
In this interview, Eloise Moran and LOUV (she/they) delve into the immersive nature of the creative process, switching off the nervous mind when performing live and, most importantly, LOUV’s new single ‘All of You’.
Summoned to the ever-evolving Naarm music scene is a musician/producer whose sonic landscapes transcend the ordinary. They weave together an avant-pop sound with romantic ambience and blend the unconventional with the sublime, gracing our ears with the sound that we now know as LOUV.
When interviewing LOUV, the first thing I was curious to know was the story behind their artist name:
“My housemate and I were joking around, and I started adding a v onto the end of their name to tease them and they reciprocated calling me LouV. We laughed and then both went – “THAT’S A GREAT ARTIST NAME.”
In French, Louv means wolf and at this very time I was ferociously reading a book called ‘Women Who Run with the Wolves’. So well described by Maxan Ferguson-Dyer as “a roadmap to reclaiming the wild, untamed essence of womanhood. It's a rallying cry for women to embrace their authenticity, harness their innate power, and chart their own path in a world that often seeks to confine and suppress.” And this so well summarises how I see the journey and purpose of LOUV.”
The musician/producer’s growth within the scene is a testament to the transformative potential of art. With the early influence of Bjork’s artistry, LOUV felt an appreciation for her wild, free and courageous approach.
“She’s unapologetically so honest and untamed - truly expressive. I appreciate her connection to the natural and spiritual and how far she pushes out of the expected whilst still being so relatable and accessible. I truly appreciate those who can be so experimental and wild while remaining so relatable.”
LOUV’s understanding of music started as a child, learning piano, trumpet and dance.
“I always absolutely adored music but didn’t like practising (hehe) and loved to sing but I was too shy to sing in front of anyone else, and I always believed music was for others to create but not me.”
“My first songs were purely my voice layered and manipulated electronically. I also serendipitously moved into a house full of music producers which was an amazing learning experience both directly and through osmosis. Later I studied a course at M.E.S.S (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio) which opened my world of production and artistic community up further.”
Within this time, they co-founded an event collective called ‘Fem Fantasy’ that centres emerging queer and femme artists. This was their first entry into performing their own music. On the topic of collaboration and collectives, I asked LOUV about their approach to the creative process and the role community plays in their practice:
“In the early stages of creation I take a more individual approach. Creation is a very cathartic, therapeutic process for me - communing with the creative muse and my inner world. Later on, as I develop the songs more, I like to collaborate with other producers, but I like to be driving the creative ship. With the visual world I like to develop the initial concepts and then work with other artists to build them up and bring them to life so that, for me, is a more collaborative process. In future I would like to embrace musical collaboration and have more recently felt inspired by collaboration than creation as a solitary refuge. My first single release was ‘Power’, followed by ‘Rain Has Come’ which was co-produced by MXMars and featured on the collaborative EP ‘Reimaginings’, as well as the Provenance Collective 2023 Compilation.”
For LOUV, the creative process is a deeply immersive exploration, with inspiration stemming from the depths of the emotional and spiritual world.
‘I have many different approaches [to creating] but most typically I begin with some sort of simple production element or drone and then I improvise the vocal part to that. My favourite songs have begun this way with half the song coming out, stream of consciousness in one take. I often use that first take as well because it holds a lot of magic and is less untainted by the thinking mind. From there it’s more of a sculpting/ collaging process, building out the story and the sonic world sometimes wrestling to keep that initial spark alive. Some songs are more seamless than others. I sometimes struggle to draw a line of where to finish things so live shows are a great motivator for me to finish songs.’
Feeling inspired to bridge the barrier between performer and audience, we discussed their experiences performing live, intrigued by their on-stage presence and the persona they embody.
“I do get very nervous sometimes beforehand or right when I get on stage, so I have developed some peculiar techniques to remain grounded and present without just zipping right out of my body.
When I first get on stage, I imagine a cord connecting my base chakra all the way down to the core of the earth, then I turn myself blue and finally to glass so that anyone’s projections or opinions of me go straight through me. Here I feel like a channel.
Nerves and all, I absolutely love performing my music. I feel like I’ve always been a natural performer, I come alive on stage. It’s this most powerful way to channel all these essential parts of me that don’t often have a home elsewhere. I can be profoundly passionate, expressive, vulnerable, tender, ferocious - ANYTHING - on stage for all to experience. My favourite performances I have felt this immense connection to myself, my power, the creative force and the audience. That connection with the audience and community is one of the most rewarding parts of the process; it's a gateway to very profound connection. More and more I’m feeling inspired to bridge the barrier between performer and audience to create highly interactive performance experiences. The penny hasn’t quite dropped yet on that though.”
I asked them if they remembered the first concert they went to and the feelings it may have evoked, being on the receiving end of the music as an audience member:
“The first concert I remember was a free B*Witched (Irish girl group - maybe resonated with my Irish ancestry) show live in the Brisbane Queen Street Mall. It felt like pure joy and absolute awe that the music and these people were making everyone feel this way.”
On the other hand, I wanted to know what they envisioned their listeners/audience feeling from their music;
“I want my music, visual worlds and performances to inspire, and very much, create a safe cathartic space for people to just feel whatever it is they need to feel, a space where whoever they are, whatever they’re experiencing is welcome.”
LOUV has recently released a new single, ‘All of You’, and a music video in accompaniment. They describe the single as an ephemeral yet hard-hitting pop song that provides a cathartic sanctuary, creating solace for wounded hearts.
“I uncovered a deep sense of self-acceptance in writing this song. It really helped me untangle and transmute my relationship with romantic attachment and desire and even find a strange sort of pleasure in patterns that could be deemed as ‘unhealthy’. The messy, shadow parts of myself and life that can be judged right into exile but when they’re honoured, loved and accepted, they don’t need to be shoved down and suppressed anymore so the pressure releases. They’re power over life eases. That was my experience in writing this song - I was able to accept and bring out of hiding all those yearning, longing parts that crave people who could never be “good” for me and in taking away all the judgement and acceptance they’re hold over me loosened and it didn’t feel like such a burden anymore. You could say the song unburdened me. It also helped me feel a lot of compassion for others as well because we all have our light and dark and that’s what it is to be human.”
LOUV recounts it as an ultimate declaration of healing - knowing what they want yet also coming to peace with that which is still messy - irrational and deeply human. The single marked a turning point in the musician’s relationship with perfectionism in the creative process. They were able to reorient and confront these issues by clarifying what it is they truly value.
“I make art for the love of creation, the states it endures and the connection it fosters to myself, others (community, collaborators, audience) and the creative force. When approaching art from this perspective the process is its own reward and any outcome becomes a wonderful bonus, loosening perfectionism's grip.”
Mixed by Becki Whitton (Daine, Banoffee, Thrupence) and mastered by Joe Lambert (Brian Eno, Hot Chip, City & Colour), the single was created with most of the sounds coming from a Yamaha CS6x synth - a 90s synth that LOUV borrowed from their housemate. The lyrics emerged through a stream of consciousness, combined with an intuitive production process - providing a freeing creative outlet. MXMars and Max Lawrence provided lead synth parts and Max also lent their co-production magic at the end of the process.
“For the music video, I wanted to place this ephemeral being - part siren and part human within the natural world of earth and water in the dark of night lit only by the full moon and a VHS camera in night mode.”
The video was shot by their sister, Katie, in Marche, Italy in rocky landscapes and by the sea. Later edited back home in Australia, they treated the edit like a collage full of texture, movement and atmosphere. Throughout the process, LOUV played the role of Creative Director and also worked with Choreographer and friend Lachlan Pursell.
“We actually shot the music video on two different cameras - one high spec-ed high resolution and the other a 1995 Sony Handycam on VHS. I wanted to combine both of the camera’s perspectives, but the VHS footage sang - it absolutely encapsulated the concept perfectly all on its own. No colour grading or effects needed. To me every shot is a painting with such a strong mood and character that the high-resolution footage just didn’t evoke. It was a wonderful lesson in what to keep and what to throw away, letting go of preconceptions and allowing the idea to completely evolve and change throughout the process.”
Since the beginning of their practice, LOUV has evolved sonically and aesthetically in a trajectory that makes sense to them.
“I began making songs from a very intuitive place, no rules, no structure, no tempo even only with my voice. As time went on and my skills and interests evolved, I gradually brought in rhythm and with-it tempo, clear stories and, with that, clear songwriting and more and more scope of sound.”
As a final note, I asked LOUV what they’re obsessed with right now:
“Right now, I’m obsessed with removing the emphasis of creativity on creating form, honouring all the parts of a creative life that are unseen and discovering how the creative process can be more joyful, fun, low pressure and collaborative. I want to ensure that I nurture and honour my emotional/spiritual/psychological/physical experience throughout the creative process and not take things too seriously. On this topic I’m obsessed with Rick Rubins book Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin right now.”
Check out LOUV’s new music video: